Monday, October 14, 2013

I've seen men at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing before, but I've never seen anything written by them after attendance. This week I came across two outstanding blogs written by men about being a man at a female dominated event.

"I was a little intimidated thinking about being among the minority
at the conference, gender-wise, and it made me better understand how a
woman might feel in our male-dominated industry. Once I got there, all I
really felt was excitement about having the opportunity to learn from
leaders in both the academic and industry sectors, who happen to be
women."

"And honestly, having dramatically more women than men around actually
made me relax too. There was no implicit competition, no being bothered
by obnoxious crowds of guys crowded around the sexually attractive women
and ignoring the less attractive ones."

These two [update: three] blogs from men that attended this year's GHC really put in perspective what it's like for nearly every woman at a male dominated conference, minus the fear of assault or having their opinions dismissed due to their gender.

These are really thought provoking and worth reading. Also, from these blogs, you get a real sense that this isn't just a "feel good networking event for women" (as I've heard it called by many who have a drastically incorrect impression of the event), but rather an outstanding technical conference that also helps you to grow your soft skills, inspires and raises your confidence as a person in tech.

GHC is one of the most inclusive conferences I've ever been to. You do not have to be a woman to attend, you don't even have to have a strong gender identity at all. The conference also provides FREE child care which really makes it possible for parent's to travel to such an event and not have to struggle to find child care in a strange city.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Who doesn't like Christmas Carols? If you do enjoy carols and would like to be a part of a very exciting Lyric opportunity to sing these lovely carols, we would love to have you join us. We are the Lyric Victorian Carolers and are looking for ensemble and quartet members to join this extremely successful caroling group for Lyric Theatre.

We will be singing from the 45+ carols in our repertoire from the tradition to some more contemporary holiday favorites. The events will be throughout the holiday season and range from private parties to various mall and large-scale events. There is no minimum number of engagements required and we will try to accommodate scheduling as best we can. We realize the holiday time is a busy time for all but bringing the sights and sounds of a Victorian Christmas to our audience is really an extra special gift.

All auditions by appointment. Audition times: (Durations are 10 minutes)

Tuesday October 8 6:30pm - 8:30pmWednesday October 9 6:30pm - 8:30pm

We need all voice parts. We provide MP3s to help you learn your music.

This is a non-paid opportunity, as with all other Lyric productions. Auditions and rehearsals will be held at the Lyric Theatre Rehearsal Facility, 430 Martin Ave., Santa Clara. Further information about Lyric Theatre and directions to our facility are available on our website: www.lyrictheatre.org.

Please visit the sign up page or call 408-986-9090 and leave a message to schedule an audition appointment. Please allow 48 hours for a response.

Please prepare your favorite Christmas carol and come to the audition with your music, if needed. Please refrain from O Holy Night and Ave Maria for the auditions. We are an a cappella group so minimal accompaniment will be provided. Rehearsals will begin on Tuesday October 15 and run on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Conflict information will be solicited later.

If you aren't the performing type, but would like to see singers at your church, community gathering, holiday party, wine tasting event, corporate party, etc, please contact us through our website: http://lyrictheatre.org/jl/outreach/caroling.html

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Our presentation went really well at the inaugural International Cryptographic Module Conference in Gaithersberg, Maryland last week. I co-presented with Dave Weaver (SPARC Architect) and Wajdi Feghali (Intel Architect).